As a relatively new vine-growing and wine-making nation, we are still working out what grows best where, reviewer Mark Henderson writes.
Thinking of the enormous success we now have with sauvignon blanc grown in Marlborough (a pairing made in heaven if ever there was one), it can be hard to remember that the first plantings there were met with derision and a belief that they wouldn't amount to much.
Some grape varieties - chardonnay for example - succeed reliably well in a number of climates and soil types, whereas others, such as pinot noir, can be far more fussy.
Many early vignerons took a scattergun approach to grape-growing, planting a bit of everything to see what might perform best.
Sometimes they planted based on research of the grape's European homelands, sometimes on a hunch and sometimes it was pig-headedness. Our wine regions have taken shape based on much of this early trial and error.
Hawke's Bay has given excellent results with a number of grape varieties, but the Bordeaux varieties have proven particularly successful. Led by cabernet sauvignon and merlot, and with fine supporting roles played by malbec, cabernet franc and petit verdot, these grapes have found a happy home in the Bay.
The early focus was on cabernet sauvignon, but as a late-ripening variety, cooler vintages can be challenging for it. Attention has shifted to merlot, which ripens earlier, so that there is now four and a-half times as much merlot as there is cabernet, grown in Hawke's Bay.
While Dunedinites might look wistfully at the temperature charts for Napier and Hastings, this is still relatively cool-climate viticulture. You are not going to see the "fruit bomb'' styles of wine that can come out of Australia; rather, elegance, finesse and food-friendliness.
I'm more than happy to drink to that.
Price: $20
Rating: Excellent to outstanding
Plums, hints of leaf, oak, spices with blackcurrant and leaf mulch evolving. This offers brightness on the palate, a juicy, crunchy feel to the fruit, all balanced well by tannin and acidity. This builds with time bringing in red fruits and spice with a long, dry finish. This leaves you salivating and wanting another glass.
Just delicious and excellent value to boot!
Price: $28
Rating: Excellent
Powerfully fruit-driven nose with plum, fruitcake, tobacco and red fruits. Intensity here with plums, spice and cigarbox on the palate leading to Christmas cake on the finish.
Fruit to the fore here, almost a ‘‘come hither'' quality to it, requisite structure underpinning it all and most enjoyable with another long, dry finish.
Price: $32
Rating: Excellent
The nose a little shy at first with perfume and roses, moving into darker fruits and spice as it opens up. Supple and spicy, licorice following; the tannins a slinky afterthought at first but making their presence felt more and more. This is drinking nicely now but with potential.
It finishes chewy, cool and refreshing, urging you to try another glass.
